Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers

Transcription

1 P.W. Gerbens-Leenes A.Y. Hoekstra Th.H. van der Meer March 2008 Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers Value of Water Research Report Series No. 29

2

3 WATER FOOTPRINT OF BIO-ENERGY AND OTHER PRIMARY ENERGY CARRIERS P.W. GERBENS-LEENES * A.Y. HOEKSTRA * TH.H. VAN DER MEER * MARCH 2008 VALUE OF WATER RESEARCH REPORT SERIES NO. 29 * University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Contact author: Arjen Hoekstra, The Value of Water Research Report Series is published by UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands in collaboration with University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands, and Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands

4

5 Contents Summary Introduction System description Primary energy carriers The concept of the water footprint Methods General Biomass Energy from biomass Calculation of the water footprint of biomass Results and discussion The water footprint of primary energy carriers (excluding biomass) Energy from biomass The water footprint of energy from biomass A shift towards energy from biomass Conclusions References Appendix 1: List of abbreviations Appendix 2: List of definitions Appendix 3: Composition dry mass crops Appendix 4: Agricultural information for the main crops in the U.S., Brazil, the Netherlands and Zimbabwe... 37

6

7 Summary Freshwater is essential for life on earth, not only for basic human needs such as food, fibre and drinking water, but also for a healthy environment. In the near future, important challenges are to meet basic needs and to ensure that the extraction of water does not affect freshwater ecosystems. At present, humanity already uses 26 percent of the total terrestrial evapotranspiration and 54 percent of accessible runoff. If the world population increases further, there is concern in several regions and countries with limited water resources if food and fibre needs of future generations can be met. In general, global change is often considered in relation to climate change caused by emissions of greenhouse gasses, such as CO 2 from fossil energy carriers. A shift towards CO 2 -neutral energy carriers, such as biomass, is heavily promoted. Nowadays, the production of biomass for food and fibre in agriculture requires about 86% of the worldwide freshwater use often competing with other uses such as urban supply and industrial activities. A shift from fossil energy towards energy from biomass puts additional pressure on freshwater resources. This report assesses the water footprint (WF) of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers. It focuses on primary energy carriers and expresses the WF as the amount of water consumed to produce a unit of energy (m 3 /GJ). The report observes large differences among the WF s for specific types of primary energy carriers. For the fossil energy carriers, the WF increases in the following order: uranium (0.09 m 3 /GJ), natural gas (0.11 m 3 /GJ), coal (0.16 m 3 /GJ), and finally crude oil (1.06 m 3 /GJ). Renewable energy carriers show large differences in their WF. The WF for wind energy is negligible, for solar thermal energy 0.30 m 3 /GJ, but for hydropower 22.3 m 3 /GJ. For biomass, the WF depends on crop type, agricultural production system and climate. The WF of average biomass grown in the Netherlands is 24 m 3 /GJ, in the US 58 m 3 /GJ, in Brazil 61 m 3 /GJ, and in Zimbabwe 143 m 3 /GJ. Based on the average per capita energy use in western societies (100 GJ/capita/year), a mix from coal, crude oil, natural gas and uranium requires about 35 m 3 /capita/year. If the same amount of energy is generated through the growth of biomass in a high productive agricultural system, as applied in the Netherlands, the WF is 2420 m 3. The WF of biomass is 70 to 400 times larger than the WF of the other primary energy carriers (excluding hydropower). The trend towards larger energy use in combination with increasing contribution of energy from biomass to supply will bring with it a need for more water. This causes competition with other claims, such as water for food crops.

8

9 1. Introduction Freshwater is a prerequisite for life on earth. It is an essential natural resource for basic human needs such as food, drinking water and a healthy environment. In the coming decades, humanity will face important challenges, not only to meet these basic human needs but also to ensure that the extraction of water from rivers, streams, lakes and aquifers does not affect freshwater ecosystems to perform their ecological functions (Postel, 2000). Today, humanity already uses 26 percent of the total terrestrial evapotranspiration and 54 percent of accessible runoff (Postel et al., 1996). For a world population of 9.2 billion, as projected by the United Nations for 2050 (UN, 2007), there are reasons for profound concern in several regions and countries with limited water resources if food and fibre needs of future generations can be met (Fischer et al., 2002; Postel, 2000; Rockström et al., 2007; Vörösmarty et al., 2000). The scientific as well as the international political community consider global change often in relation to climate change. It is generally accepted that emissions of greenhouse gasses, such as CO 2 from fossil energy carriers, are responsible for anthropogenic impacts on the climate system. A shift towards CO 2 -neutral energy carriers, such as biomass, is heavily promoted. Other advantages of these renewable energy sources are a decreased risk of energy supply insecurity, resource diversification, and the absence of depletion risks (De Vries et al., 2006). There are three categories of biomass for energy: (i) food crops, (ii) energy crops, and (iii) organic wastes (Minnesma and Hisschemöller, 2003). Food crops that are used for energy are, for example, sugar cane, providing ethanol, and rapeseed, providing biodiesel; typical energy crops are poplar and miscanthus, providing heat. The variety in organic wastes is enormous. Wastes are generated in agriculture (e.g. manure), industry or households. Nowadays, the production of biomass for food and fibre in agriculture requires about 86% of the worldwide freshwater use (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007). In many parts of the world, the use of water for agriculture competes with other uses such as urban supply and industrial activities (Falkenmark, 1989), while the aquatic environment shows signs of degradation and decline (Postel et al., 1996). An increase of demand for food in combination with a shift from fossil energy towards energy from biomass puts additional pressure on freshwater resources. For the future, hardly any new land is available so all production must come from the natural resource base currently available (FAO, 2003), requiring a process of sustainable intensification by increasing the efficiency of the use of land and water (Fresco, 2006). A tool that has been developed for the calculation of water needs for consumer products is the concept of the water footprint (WF). This tool has been introduced by Hoekstra (2003) and has been developed further by Hoekstra and Chapagain (2007, 2008). Those authors define the WF as the total annual volume of freshwater used to produce the goods and services related to consumption. So far, the tool has been used to assess the WF of food and cotton consumption. The objective of this report is to assess the water footprint per unit of energy (m 3 /GJ) of biomass and to compare these requirements with the water footprint of fossil energy carriers and other renewables (wind, solar energy and hydropower). Research questions are: (i) How much water is needed to provide energy from traditional fossil energy carriers?; (ii) What is the WF per unit of energy of food crops (e.g.

10 8 / Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers crops for sugar, starch and oil) and typical energy crops (e.g. trees and grasses); (iii) Does the location where biomass is produced influence the WF?; and (iv) How much additional water is needed if a shift occurs towards energy from biomass? First, the report estimates the WF of various types of biomass in m 3 per unit of energy (GJ). Next, it estimates the WF of fossil energy carriers and hydropower based on data from literature and compares these results with results for biomass. This information can be used to evaluate the total WF of energy for different scenarios.

11 2. System description 2.1 Primary energy carriers Energy exists in many forms, such as kinetic energy, chemical energy, electricity or heat. Among these various forms, conversions occur. Biological photosynthesis, for example, converts solar photonic energy into chemical energy forming biomass. Many substances such as food or plastics contain energy (Verkerk et al., 1986). In energy analysis, however, a substance is considered an energy carrier if the substance is predominantly used as a source of energy (Blok, 2006). Before energy is available in an applicable form for human utilization, for example, for warming a house, cooking or lighting, energy passes a number of stages in a supply chain (Blok, 2006). Energy carriers derive from energy sources, the non-renewable and the renewable energy sources. Primary energy carriers are defined as carriers directly derived from a natural source without any conversion process, while secondary energy carriers are the product of a conversion process (Blok, 2006). Throughout history, humans have used renewable energy from biomass, for example, wood for heating and cooking. The FAO (2006) defines biomass as material of organic origin, in non-fossilized form, such as agricultural crops and forestry products, agricultural and forestry wastes and by-products, manure, microbial biomass, and industrial and household organic waste. Biomass is applied for food (e.g. wheat), materials (e.g. cotton), or for energy (e.g. poplar). At present, biomass is the most important renewable primary energy carrier (Blok, 2006). Biomass is often converted into biofuels, renewable secondary energy carriers in solid, liquid or gaseous form. Examples are charcoal, ethanol, biodiesel, and biogas (Minnesma and Hisschemöller, 2003; Blok, 2006). The energy derived from these fuels is termed bioenergy. For the assessment of the WF of energy, this report considered the currently most important primary energy carriers that derive from sources in the first stage of the energy supply chain: crude oil, coal, natural gas, uranium, electricity from hydropower, solar energy, and wind, and biomass. Processes that make primary energy carriers available, almost always require water in varying amounts. This section provides an overview of primary energy carriers showing the processes that require water to make them available. Crude oil Globally, the most important primary non-renewable energy carrier is crude oil or petroleum that forms the basis for oil products (e.g. kerosene, gasoline and heavy fuel oil). Production of crude oil is done by drilling wells and pumping the oil out. Primary production of crude oil includes well drilling and oil pumping from underground reservoirs (Blok, 2006). Gleick (1994) has estimated that about 2-8 m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal) is needed for drilling, flooding and treating crude oil. When the amount of crude oil pumped out decreases, extraction is improved by so-called secondary recovery that needs water in the form of steam to improve the viscosity of the crude oil and enhance pumping (Blok, 2006). Thermal steam injection requires m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal) (Gleick, 1994).

12 10 / Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers Coal The second important non-renewable primary energy carrier is coal, a sedimentary rock found both near the Earth s surface and in deeper deposits that needs to be recovered through mining (Blok, 2006). Open pit mining requires about 2 m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal), while underground mining operations require about 3-20 m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal) (Gleick, 1994). After mining the coal, it is often washed to remove nonfuel contaminants. Natural gas The third important non-renewable primary energy carrier is natural gas recovered by drilling wells into the underground. It needs limited treatment before use, for example, H 2 S and CO 2 are generally removed. Crude oil and natural gas are often found together in porous reservoir rocks covered by a cap rock, from where the gas can be drilled. Gleick (1994) has estimated that plant operations require about 100 m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal). Uranium The fourth important non-renewable primary energy carrier is uranium, present in the Earth s crust in the form of ores with a content of uranium oxide (U 3 O 8 ) between 0.01 and 1%. It is recovered from open pit and underground mines requiring water for processes like dust control and ore beneficiation. Requirements vary between 0.2 m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal) for underground mining, to 20 m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal) for open pit mining. The additional milling, refining and enriching of uranium requires another 20 m 3 of water per 10 3 GJ(thermal) (US Atomic Energy Comm., 1974) Electricity from hydropower Hydropower is the second most important renewable energy source after biomass. It uses the potential energy of water to drive turbines generating electricity. Dams in rivers create large water reservoirs (Shiklomanov, 2000; Blok, 2006). The water requirements for hydropower are mainly caused by evaporation and seepage from the reservoirs and are about 5-26 m 3 per 10 3 kwh(electric) (Gleick, 1994). Solar energy The radiation from the sun provides solar energy. Solar energy can be utilized in three ways: (i) heat production through solar collectors producing hot water; (ii) electricity production through PV cells; and (iii) electricity production through solar thermal power plants. These plants convert energy into hot air or steam used to generate electricity (Blok, 1994). Gleick (1994) has estimated that water requirements of solar thermal power plants are about 1 m 3 per 10 3 kwh(electric). Electricity from wind energy Wind energy utilizes the kinetic energy in the air to generate electricity. In wind farms, the average, annual energy generated varies between 0.05 and 0.25 GJ(electric) per m 2 (Blok, 2006). If the land remains available for other uses, for example for agriculture, no water requirements have to be allocated to wind energy. In that case, wind energy does not require water, whereas the water requirement for the construction of the turbines is negligible (Gleick, 1994).

13 Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers / 11 Biomass For the production of biomass, agriculture applies the natural land base and requires the input of freshwater for crop growth. Solar radiation is the principal driving force for the evaporation of water. There are many equations available to estimate the evaporation of water, for example the Penman-Monteith equation that requires input of meteorological data (Allen et al., 1998). The FAO has used this equation for the development of the computer program CROPWAT (FAO, 2007), a useful tool for farmers for irrigation planning and management. 2.2 The concept of the water footprint Natural capital - air, land, habitats and water - is essential for the natural environment that performs basic functions for human existence and life on earth (Costanza and Daly, 1992) such as the provision of biomass. The availability of freshwater is a prerequisite for biomass growth. A tool that assesses water requirements for crops as well as international virtual water flows related to the trade of crops and crop products is the concept of the water footprint (WF). This tool has been introduced by Hoekstra (2003), who defines the WF as the total annual volume of freshwater used to produce the goods and services related to a certain consumption pattern. The WF of a product (commodity, good or service) is defined as the volume of freshwater used for the production of that product at the place where it was actually produced (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007). Most of the water used is not contained in the product itself, however. In general, the actual water content of products is negligible compared to their WF. The WF shows water use for consumption, termed utilization, inside and outside the national territory. Results are expressed as m 3 /kg of product, m 3 /capita/year, or as m 3 /year on a national level. Globally, the main virtual water flows are related to utilization of soybeans (11%), wheat (9%), coffee (7%), rice (6%) and cotton (4%) (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2008). Calculations of a WF are made by summing daily crop evapotranspiration (mm/day) over the growing period of a crop. The WF consists of three components: green, blue and gray virtual-water. The green virtual-water content of a product refers to the rainwater that evaporated during the production process, mainly during crop growth. The blue virtual-water content refers to surface and groundwater applied for irrigation that evaporated during crop growth. The gray virtual-water content of a product is the volume of water that becomes polluted during production. It is defined as the amount of water needed to dilute pollutants emitted to the natural water system during the production process to the extent that the quality of the ambient water remains beyond agreed water quality standards (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2008).

14

15 3. Methods 3.1 General To make primary, non-renewable energy carriers available, several operations take place, many of which require water. The amount of water for a specific operation, however, varies. Requirements for the mining of coal, for example, vary between 2 m 3 /1000 GJ for surface mining, to 20 m 3 /1000 GJ for underground mining (Gleick, 1994). For the assessment of the WF s, the report summed the largest WF s per operation per energy carrier. It derived data from Gleick (1994). In this way, the report probably overestimated the WF of non-renewable, primary energy carriers. On the other hand, the return flow generates pollution of large water quantities so that the pollution volume (gray water) is underestimated. In the category of primary, renewable energy carriers, the report distinguished between carriers from non-organic and carriers from organic sources, i.e. biomass. Carriers from non-organic sources for which the report calculated the WF were electricity from solar thermal power plants, from wind energy and from hydropower. For the assessment, the report derived data from Gleick (1994). The WF of hydropower was calculated by dividing data on global evaporation of artificial surface water reservoirs from Shiklomanov (2000) by information on hydroelectric generation from Gleick (1993) for the year Biomass Biomass is an umbrella term for all the material flows that derive from the biosphere, such as food and feed crops, energy crops, and organic wastes, such as manure and crop residues. For the assessment of the WF of biomass, this report only took crops into account; wastes fell outside the report. In general, agriculture grows crops for their reproductive or storage organs that have an economic value when applied for food, feed or materials production. The harvested organs are termed crop yield, i.e. the harvested production per unit of harvested area for crop products (FAO, 2007). The growth of these organs requires the preceding growth of complete plants with stems and foliage, however (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel, 2004). The ratio of the crop yield to the total biomass yield is termed the harvest index (HI) and shows large differences among crops (Goudriaan et al., 2001). For food or feed purposes, agriculture aims at the crop yield. For energy purposes, however, total biomass yield can be applied rather than crop yield. Total biomass yield was calculated by dividing data on crop yields from the FAO (2007) by the HI. Table 1 shows data on HI used in this report derived from agricultural studies (Goudriaan et al., 2001; Akhtar, 2004). The report considered three categories of crops: (i) trees; (ii) bioenergy crops; and (iii) food crops. It made assessments for fifteen crops from the three categories mentioned above: poplar (trees), miscanthus (bioenergy crops), and for cassava, coconut, cotton, groundnuts, maize, palm oil, potato, wheat, rapeseed, sugar beet, sugar cane, sunflower, and soybean (food crops).

16 14 / Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers 3.3 Energy from biomass The basis for energy from biomass is the universal photosynthesis process that stores solar energy in chemical bonds. Although the efficiency of this process varies, it shows a linear relationship between intercepted global radiation and above ground plant biomass under conditions of sufficient water and nutrient supply (Goudriaan et al., 2001; Monteith, 1977). All plants use glucose as the molecule that stores energy from photosynthesis and as the basis for all other organic compounds that make up plant tissues (Penning de Vries, 1983). The five main categories of organic compounds are: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, lignins and organic acids. The amount of glucose needed for a unit of organic compound differs, resulting in different energy values for the compounds. This means that the composition of the biomass determines the availability of energy from a specific biomass type, resulting in differences in combustion energy. Energy analysis defines the energy content of a fuel as the amount of heat that is produced during combustion at 25 o C at 1 bar. It distinguishes between the higher heating value (HHV) and the lower heating value (LHV) (Blok, 2006). For the HHV, energy analysis measures the heat content of water that is the product of the combustion process in the liquid form; in the case of LHV it measures the heat content in the gaseous form. Data on HHV and LHV become available from laboratory analyses and can be obtained from databases like the Phyllis database (ECN, 2007) or the database of the UT Wien (Reisinger et al., 1996). In general, however, organic systems, such as agriculture producing crops, show natural variation of its output, resulting in differences in crop composition (Gerbens-Leenes, 2006). Even for crops of the same type, variation occurs resulting in differences in HHV and LHV (ECN, 2007; Reisinger et al., 1996). For the assessment of the WF of energy from biomass, this natural variation forms a complication. To avoid large variation of results, this report defined hypothetical crops, H-crops, with a standardized composition derived from existing crops. Data were obtained from agricultural studies. Table 1 shows the fifteen H-crops and their main characteristics that formed the basis for the calculations (see also Appendix 3). Table 2 shows the heat of combustion values (HHV) for the five major groups of plant components in kj/gram from Penning de Vries et al. (1989). Based on the composition of the H-crop and the HHV of the crop component, the report calculated the HHV of the H-crops.

18 16 / Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers Step 1: calculation crop water requirement (CWR) (m 3 /ha) The calculation of the water requirement of crop c CWR (c) (m 3 /ha) in a specific area was done by applying the calculation model CROPWAT (FAO, 2007) that is based on the FAO Penman-Monteith method (Allen et al., 1998) to estimate reference evapotranspiration: lp CWR (c) = 10 * K c (c) * ET o (1) d = 1 where the factor 10 is applied to convert mm into m 3 /ha. The summation is done over the complete growing season of crop c, where lp is the length of the growing period in days. ET o is the reference crop evapotranspiration (mm/day) of a hypothetical surface covered with grass not short of water. K c (c) is the crop coefficient that includes effects that distinguishes evapotranspiration of field crops from grass. Calculations were done for the fifteen crops shown in Table 1 grown in four different countries: Brazil, the Netherlands, the United States and Zimbabwe. For these countries, the main agricultural areas where specific crops are grown were derived from the USDA (2007). Appendix 4 gives an overview of these areas. For these areas, climatic data that were used as input for the model CROPWAT, were derived from the database of Müller and Hennings (2000). Step 2: calculation total biomass yield (BY )(tons /ha) The difference between total biomass yield and crop yield consists of a rest fraction that is not suitable for food, feed or materials production but can be used for energy production. This report allocated the CWR to the total biomass yield BY (c) (tons/ha) calculated as follows: BY (c) = Y HI () c () c (2) Where Y (c) is the crop yield (tons/ha) and HI (c) is the harvest index for crop c. Data on yields were derived from the FAO (2007), data on HI were derived from (Goudriaan et al., 2001; Akhtar, 2004). Appendix 4 shows an overview of yield data; Table 1 shows an overview of HI (c). Step 3: calculation water footprint biomass crop c, WF M (c), (m 3 /ton) The water footprint of crops per unit of mass, WF M (c) (m 3 /ton), was calculated as follows: WF M (c) = CWR BY () c () c (3)

19 Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers / 17 Step 4: calculation average energy content of a H-crop (c), E (c) (GJ/ton) The calculation of the average energy content of a hypothetical crop, E (c) (HHV in GJ/ton), was done by combining data on heat of combustion of plant components (HHV in kj/gram = GJ/ton) (see Table 2) with information on the composition of a H-crop (grams/gram) as shown in Table 1: 5 E (c) = HI (c) * DM Y (c) * C i * A y,i + (1-HI (c) * DM r (c) * C i * A r,i (4) i= 1 5 i= 1 HI (c) is the harvest index of crop c, DM Y (c) is the fraction of dry mass in the crop yield, and DM r (c) is the fraction of dry mass in the rest fraction, C is the heat of combustion of component i (HHV in kj/gram), A is the amount of component i in the DM of the crop yield or rest fraction (grams/gram). Finally, Step 5 calculates the WF of energy from biomass WF E (c) (m 3 /GJ) by dividing results from step 3 by results from step 4: WF E (c) = WF M ( c) E( c) (5)

22 20 / Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers Large differences among the WF of operations occur, resulting in large differences among average, total WF s of primary non-renewable energy carriers. The WF of underground uranium mining, for example, is negligible, whereas the WF of the deep mining of coal is m 3 /GJ, onshore oil extraction and production m 3 /GJ, and surface mining of coal only m 3 /GJ. For the non-renewable and renewable energy carriers (excluding biomass), the WF increases in the following order: electricity from wind energy (0.00 m 3 /GJ), uranium (0.09 m 3 /GJ), natural gas (0.11 m 3 /GJ), coal (0.16 m 3 /GJ), electricity from solar active space heat (0.27 m 3 /GJ), crude oil (1.06 m 3 /GJ) and finally hydropower (22.3 m 3 /GJ). In the category of primary non-renewable energy carriers, the WF of crude oil is ten times the WF of uranium. Table 3 also shows that, except for hydropower, the average total WF of the renewables (excluding biomass) is smallest, of the non-renewables largest. As mentioned before, the WF includes three types of water: green, blue and gray water. The first two are related to water use, the latter to water pollution. Gray water is defined as the amount of water needed to dilute pollutants emitted to the natural water system during the production process to the extent that the quality of the ambient water remains beyond agreed water quality standards. To make energy carriers available, it is possible that water becomes polluted. For example, underground coal mining sometimes leads to contamination of water (Gleick, 1994). This report took pollution, and thus gray water into account to a limited extent only by assuming that the return flows (water volumes that do not evaporate but return to ground water and surface water systems) are polluted. In reality, one cubic meter of return flow generally pollutes much more water than one cubic meter. In this way, the report probably underestimated the WF of some energy carriers that show large water pollution. 4.2 Energy from biomass Table 4 shows the results for the calculated heat of combustion of the H-crop yields and rest fractions in MJ per kg dry mass. It shows that the heat of combustion varies between 15 MJ per kg for coconuts and 28 MJ for groundnuts. Table 5 shows the heat of combustion for the total biomass of the H-crop expressed in MJ per kg fresh weight. Differences among heat of combustion values are much larger among crops when the values are expressed per unit of fresh weight rather than per unit of dry mass. Table 5 shows a difference of a factor of five between the lowest and highest values. In general, crops showing small water contents and large oil contents have relatively large heat of combustion values, for example palmkernels and sunflower. Crops that have a large water content and a small oil content have small values, for example potato and sugarcane. 4.3 The water footprint of energy from biomass Tables 6a-b show the results for the WF of energy from biomass expressed in cubic meters of water per unit of energy and in cubic meters per unit of mass for the fifteen crops grown in four different countries. Differences among WF s of biomass were large, dependant on the type of biomass, the agricultural system applied and climatic conditions. For the types of biomass included in this report, the largest difference was found between maize grown in the Netherlands and cotton grown in Zimbabwe; the WF of the cotton was forty times the WF of Dutch maize. In general, some crops have a lower WF per unit of energy than other crops. In order to compare the WF of crops, Figure 1 shows the relative WF per country, where the WF of maize in that country is set to 1.

25 Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers / 23 Figure 1 shows that in the Netherlands, maize and wheat have the smallest WF, the WF of sugar beet is 50% larger, whereas the WF of miscanthus is twice the WF of maize, of poplar and potato two and a half the WF of maize, of sunflower three times and of oilseedrape seven and a half times the WF of maize. In the US, maize also has the smallest WF. The WF s of sugar beet and sugar cane are about 50% larger, poplar and potato two and a half times larger, groundnut and sunflower three times, and oilseedrape and cotton six and seven and a half times larger respectively. In Brazil, sugar cane shows about half the WF of maize; cotton and oilseedrape have two and a half and five times the WF of maize. The other crops have WF s in the same order of magnitude as maize. In Zimbabwe, only cotton has a WF that is substantially larger than the WF of maize, twice the value of maize. All other crops have WF s in the same order of magnitude or smaller. In general, the WF of maize is favourable, the WF of oilseedrape and cotton unfavourable. Figure 1 also shows that some crops that are specifically grown for energy, i.e. miscanthus, poplar and winteroilseedrape have a relatively large WF compared to a food crop such as maize. An exception is poplar grown in Zimbabwe. For this crop the report applied average yield data taken from production systems that probably overestimated yields levels in that country, so that it underestimated the WF of poplar. From a water perspective, crops grown for energy do not have a more favourable WF than crops grown for food. It is stressed that for the assessment of the WF, the report only took the energy content of biomass into account. The energy input for the agricultural system, for example for fertilizer and pesticides, fell outside the report. For high input agricultural systems, the energy input is substantial (Pimentel and Patzek, 2005) so that net energy yields are smaller than calculated in this report. This means that this report probably underestimated the WF of biomass from agricultural systems with relatively large energy inputs. Relative WF (maize=1) NL US Brazil Zimbabwe 0 cassava coconut cotton groundnuts maize miscanthus palmoil and kernels poplar potatoes soyabeans sugarbeets sugarcane sunflower wheat winteroilseedrape Figure 1. Relative water footprint (WF) for fifteen crops grown in the Netherlands, the United States, Brazil and Zimbabwe, where the WF of maize in the country considered is set to 1.

26 24 / Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers 4.4 A shift towards energy from biomass At present, average direct and indirect energy use in western societies is about 100 GJ per capita per year (Kramer et al., 1994; Vringer and Blok, 1995; Noorman and Schoot Uiterkamp, 1998; Moll et al., 2005). This energy is generated with a mix of primary energy carriers, mainly non-renewables (coal, oil, natural gas and uranium) and some renewable energy from hydropower (Blok, 2006; BP, 2007). Table 7 shows that the WF of non-renewables and renewables (excluding biomass) is much smaller than the average WF of biomass. Table 7. Average water footprint for fossil energy carriers, electricity from active solar space heat, electricity form wind energy, biomass produced in the Netherlands, Brazil, the United States and Zimbabwe (m 3 /GJ). Primary energy carriers Average water footprint (m 3 /GJ) Wind energy 0.00 Natural gas 0.04 Nuclear energy 0.09 Coal 0.16 Solar thermal energy 0.30 Crude oil 1.06 Biomass the Netherlands (average) Biomass US (average) Biomass Brazil(average) Biomass Zimbabwe (average) Biomass (average the Netherlands, US, Brazil, Zimbabwe) Based on the average per capita energy use in western societies, a mix from coal, crude oil, natural gas and uranium requires about 35 m 3 per capita per year. If the same amount of energy is generated through the growth of biomass in a high productive agricultural system, as applied in the Netherlands, the WF of 100 GJ is 2420 m 3. In the United States, where yields are lower than in the Netherlands, the WF is 5820 m 3 per capita per year, in Brazil 6120 and in Zimbabwe even m 3 per capita per year. This means that the WF of biomass is 70 to 400 times larger than the WF of the other primary energy carriers. This water requirement lies in the same order of magnitude than the per capita WF for food (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007). Moreover, food consumption patterns are changing (Gerbens-Leenes and Nonhebel, 2002): globally, a transition is taking place towards more affluent consumption, especially the consumption of meat, dairy and beverages increases. This will not only require more land, but also more freshwater. Estimates for 2015 show that total water needs for food will double, causing further degradation of ecosystems (Rockström et al., 2007). Strategies towards large use of biomass for energy purposes should take the large WF s of this energy source into account, as well as the competition with water for food. The current and future economic development, for example in China and India, not only causes an increasing need for energy, but also for more affluent foods and thus for natural resources, such as freshwater (Gerbens- Leenes, 2006). The global resources are inadequate to meet, let alone sustain the current western life style for each individual. Insights obtained in this report can contribute to a better understanding of the environmentconsumption relationship.

27 5. Conclusions This report has clarified the freshwater implications for a large scale introduction of biomass for energy purposes. It has shown the relationship between freshwater and energy, especially between freshwater and biomass for energy purposes. Results show large differences between the average WF of non-renewable primary energy carriers on the one hand and the average WF of energy from biomass on the other. But also within the two categories large differences occur. The WF of non-renewable primary energy carriers increases in the following order: uranium, natural gas, coal and finally crude oil, which shows a WF of ten times the WF of uranium. Within the category of biomass for energy purposes, differences are even larger. These differences are caused by differences in crop characteristics, agricultural production situations, climatic circumstances, as well as by local factors. For example, the WF per unit of energy of cotton grown in Zimbabwe is forty times the WF of maize grown in the Netherlands. Biomass grown for energy purposes, such as poplar, miscanthus or winteroilseedrape, however, do not show more favourable WF s than food crops, such as, maize. When a shift occurs towards larger use of biomass, the WF of energy increases substantially. The report shows that the WF of energy from biomass is 70 to 400 times larger than the WF of a mix of energy from nonrenewable sources. The current and future economic development causes a continued need for natural resources, such as freshwater. A shift towards biomass energy, as promoted to decrease the impact of fossil energy on the climate system, will bring with it a need for more water. The concept of the WF and the results for biomass presented in this report have led to new insights with respect to the large impact of energy from biomass on the use of freshwater resources. This knowledge can be a valuable contribution to research concerning energy needs and freshwater availability for the near future.

35 Appendix 2: List of definitions Biofuel Renewable secondary energy carrier derived from biomass in solid, liquid or gaseous form. Examples are charcoal, ethanol, biodiesel and biogas. Biomass Material in non-fossilized form. Examples are agricultural crops, forestry products, agricultural and forestry wastes and by-products, manure, microbial biomass, and industrial and household organic waste. Blue component of the water footprint Volume of surface and groundwater evaporated as a result of the production of the product or service. For example, for crop production, the blue component is defined as the sum of the evaporation of irrigation water from the field as the evaporation of water from irrigation canals and artificial storage reservoirs. It is the amount of water withdrawn from ground- or surface water that does not return to the system from which it came. Crop yield Harvested production per unit of harvested area for crop products Evapotranspiration Evaporation from the soil where crops are grown including the transpiration of water that actually passes crops Fossil energy Non-renewable energy derived from plant material stored in the earth s crust for millions of years, such as oil, natural gas and coal. The use of fossil energy causes emissions of carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming Green component of the water footprint Volume of rainwater that evaporated during the production process. This is mainly relevant for agricultural products (e.g. crops or trees) where it refers to the total rainwater evapotranspiration (from fields and plants). Grey component of the water footprint Volume of freshwater needed to dilute polluted freshwater flows that leave a specific site after being used by the business at that site to such an extent that the quality of the

36 34 / Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers sewage water remains above agreed water standards. Harvest index Ratio of crop yield to total biomass yield Primary energy carrier Energy carriers directly derived from a natural source without any conversion process Renewable energy Energy deriving from renewable sources, mostly solar irradiation. Examples are biomass energy, wind energy and solar energy. Secondary energy carrier Energy carriers that do not derive from a natural source and are the product of a conversion process Water footprint An indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. The water footprint of an intermediate or final product (including energy) is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used directly or directly to produce the product. Water use is measured in terms of water volumes consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for any welldefined group of consumers (e.g. an individual, family, village, city, province, state or nation) or producers (e.g. a public organization, private enterprise or economic sector). The water footprint is a geographically explicit indicator, not only showing volumes of water use and pollution, but also the locations.

41 Value of Water Research Report Series Editorial board: Arjen Y. Hoekstra University of Twente, Hubert H.G. Savenije Delft University of Technology, Pieter van der Zaag UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Reports are downloadable from 1. Exploring methods to assess the value of water: A case study on the Zambezi basin. A.K. Chapagain February Water value flows: A case study on the Zambezi basin. A.Y. Hoekstra, H.H.G. Savenije and A.K. Chapagain March The water value-flow concept. I.M. Seyam and A.Y. Hoekstra December The value of irrigation water in Nyanyadzi smallholder irrigation scheme, Zimbabwe. G.T. Pazvakawambwa and P. van der Zaag January The economic valuation of water: Principles and methods J.I. Agudelo August The economic valuation of water for agriculture: A simple method applied to the eight Zambezi basin countries J.I. Agudelo and A.Y. Hoekstra August The value of freshwater wetlands in the Zambezi basin I.M. Seyam, A.Y. Hoekstra, G.S. Ngabirano and H.H.G. Savenije August Demand management and Water as an economic good : Paradigms with pitfalls H.H.G. Savenije and P. van der Zaag October Why water is not an ordinary economic good H.H.G. Savenije October Calculation methods to assess the value of upstream water flows and storage as a function of downstream benefits I.M. Seyam, A.Y. Hoekstra and H.H.G. Savenije October Virtual water trade: A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international crop trade A.Y. Hoekstra and P.Q. Hung September Virtual water trade: Proceedings of the international expert meeting on virtual water trade A.Y. Hoekstra (ed.) February Virtual water flows between nations in relation to trade in livestock and livestock products A.K. Chapagain and A.Y. Hoekstra July The water needed to have the Dutch drink coffee A.K. Chapagain and A.Y. Hoekstra August The water needed to have the Dutch drink tea A.K. Chapagain and A.Y. Hoekstra August 2003

42 16. Water footprints of nations Volume 1: Main Report, Volume 2: Appendices A.K. Chapagain and A.Y. Hoekstra November Saving water through global trade A.K. Chapagain, A.Y. Hoekstra and H.H.G. Savenije September The water footprint of cotton consumption A.K. Chapagain, A.Y. Hoekstra, H.H.G. Savenije and R. Gautam September Water as an economic good: the value of pricing and the failure of markets P. van der Zaag and H.H.G. Savenije July The global dimension of water governance: Nine reasons for global arrangements in order to cope with local water problems A.Y. Hoekstra July The water footprints of Morocco and the Netherlands A.Y. Hoekstra and A.K. Chapagain July Water s vulnerable value in Africa P. van der Zaag July Human appropriation of natural capital: Comparing ecological footprint and water footprint analysis A.Y. Hoekstra July A river basin as a common-pool resource: A case study for the Jaguaribe basin in Brazil P.R. van Oel, M.S. Krol and A.Y. Hoekstra July Strategic importance of green water in international crop trade M.M. Aldaya, A.Y. Hoekstra and J.A. Allan March Global water governance: Conceptual design of global institutional arrangements M.P. Verkerk, A.Y. Hoekstra and P.W. Gerbens-Leenes March Business water footprint accounting: A tool to assess how production of goods and services impacts on freshwater resources worldwide P.W. Gerbens-Leenes and A.Y. Hoekstra March Water neutral: reducing and offsetting the impacts of water footprints A.Y. Hoekstra March Water footprint of bio-energy and other primary energy carriers P.W. Gerbens-Leenes, A.Y. Hoekstra and Th.H. van der Meer March Food consumption patterns and their effect on water requirement in China J. Liu and H.H.G. Savenije March Going against the flow: A critical analysis of virtual water trade in the context of India s National River Linking Programme S. Verma, D.A. Kampman, P. van der Zaag and A.Y. Hoekstra March 2008

P.W. Gerbens-Leenes A.Y. Hoekstra Th.H. van der Meer August 2008 The water footprint of bio-energy: global water use for bio-ethanol, bio-diesel, heat and electricity Value of Water Research Report Series

A comparative study on the water footprint of poultry, pork and beef in different countries and production systems P.W. Gerbens-Leenes M.M. Mekonnen A.Y. Hoekstra University of Twente September 2011 Contents

AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 2012 SCORING GUIDELINES Question 2 The Fremont School District uses oil to heat school buildings. Go Green! is a new project the district will implement. The superintendent has

GCE Environmental Technology Energy from Biomass For first teaching from September 2013 For first award in Summer 2014 Energy from Biomass Specification Content should be able to: Students should be able

Great Energy Debate Game Students evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the major energy sources in an innovative debate format. SUBJECT AREAS Science Social Studies Math Language Arts? s s STUDENT

5-Minute Refresher: RENEWABLE ENERGY Renewable Energy Key Ideas Renewable energy is a source of energy that can be used and replenished naturally in a relatively short period of time. Non renewable energy

Biomass Basics Energy from the sun, via photosynthesis in plants This is the same energy we use as food This is the same energy that made fossil fuels; fossil fuels are concentrated over time by the heat

Summary The increasing world energy demand, depletion and unequal distribution of fossil resources, and the dangers caused by climate change are the driving forces for the development of alternative energy

Big Idea: Energy exists in different forms and can change form one form to another but energy is always conserved. Unit 2 Lesson 4 Effects of Energy Transfer Essential Question: How does the use of energy

AP Biology Chapter 54 notes Ecosystems Ecosystem ecology emphasizes energy flow and chemical recycling An ecosystem consists of all the organisms in a community and all the abiotic factors with which they

P a g e 1 Generating Current Electricity: Complete the following summary table for each way that electrical energy is generated. Generating Electrical Energy Using Moving Water: Hydro-Electric Generation

Energy Resources Stations Activity Page # 1 Station #1 Interpreting Infographs 1. Identify and explain each of the energy sources (5) illustrated in the infograph. 2. What do the white and black circles

INTRODUCTION In rich countries like Australia, our standard of living is dependent on easily available energy. Every time you catch a bus, turn on a light or watch television energy is being used up. Over

Introduction The way of life that we Americans take for granted every day depends upon a stable and abundant supply of affordable energy. Energy shortages can quickly affect our everyday lives and harm

PAMUN XV ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE PROMOTING THE MOVEMENT TOWARDS RENEWABLE RESOURCES OF ENERGY Introduction of Topic Currently non-renewable resources make up 85% of the world's energy consumption; a major

ANALYZING ENERGY Lesson Concepts: Students will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of nine different energy sources. They will use their knowledge to predict what would happen if the world did not

Alternative Energy Resources Energy Resource Advantages Disadvantages What are some renewable energy resources? A nonrenewable resource cannot be replaced in a reasonable amount of time. Fossil fuels such

Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources Environment and Ecology Standards 4.2 A 1. Natural Resources All of the Earth s organisms, air, water, and soil, as well as materials such as oil, coal, and ore that

Earth s Cycles 1. Models are often used to explain scientific knowledge or experimental results. A model of the carbon cycle is shown below. Which of the following can be determined based on this model?

Grade 7 Objective Students will be able to: Describe the carbon cycle in more detail: o Learn about the importance of carbon and the role it plays in photosynthesis and cellular respiration, Identify elements

Pocket K No. 24 Biotechnology for Green Energy: Biofuels What are biofuels? Biofuels are alternative fuels made from plant and plant-derived resources. Biofuels are used mainly for transportation. There

The footprint of food Professor Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Twente Water Centre, University of Twente, the Netherlands. The international trade in agricultural commodities at the same time constitutes a trade with

Western Nevada County Biomass Utilization Feasibility Project Frequently Asked Questions Q: What is woody biomass and where does it come from? A: Woody biomass for the Nevada County project will primarily

RENEWABLE RESOURCES Natural resources (also called land or raw materials) occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. Natural resources are derived

1 MCQ - ENERGY and CLIMATE 1. The volume of a given mass of water at a temperature of T 1 is V 1. The volume increases to V 2 at temperature T 2. The coefficient of volume expansion of water may be calculated

Can you imagine life without lights, fans, cars, computers and television, or of fetching water from the well or river? This is what life would have been like had man not discovered the uses of energy.

Emerging BioFuel Crops and Technology Kurt Thelen Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan ABSTRACT United States energy policy requires 36 billion gallons of ethanol by the year 2022, with 21

Resources for Energy System Diagram Activity Labels for Anaerobic digestion poster cut apart and distribute to students Manure The input to the system, this is produced as waste once animals have consumed

NUTRIENT CYCLES (How are nutrients recycled through ecosystems?) Why? We have learned the importance of recycling our trash. It allows us to use something again for another purpose and prevents the loss

M.M. Mekonnen A.Y. Hoekstra May 2011 National water footprint accounts: The green, blue and grey water footprint of production and consumption Volume 1: Main Report Value of Water Research Report Series

A new representation of integrated management of water resources: Sankey diagrams that link water sources and services for humans and nature at different scales Elizabeth Curmi, Keith Richards, Richard

Energy Tutorial: Energy and Sustainability Non-renewable and renewable resources Provided by Sponsored by INTRODUCTION We use energy for everything we do, whether it is heating our homes, cooking a meal,

Chapter 13 Quiz Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1. Which of the following is the correct type of energy utilized to produce tidal power? a.

ifeu - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg Assessment of energy and greenhouse gas inventories of Sweet Sorghum for first and second generation bioethanol Executive summary Commissioned

Corporate Public Affairs Het Overloon 1, 6411 TE Heerlen, the Netherlands www.dsm.com April 2012 DSM Position on Sustainable Biomass Key messages DSM is a leading Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company

The impact Equation where scientists and engineers fit in the picture In a series of papers in 1970-74, Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren proposed the following equation to estimate the overall impact of our

EU renewable energy and biofuel targets what will they mean? Background The EU Commission has today tabled proposals for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions a 20% cut by 2020. Alongside this legally

ENERGY PRODUCING SYSTEMS SOLAR POWER INTRODUCTION Energy from the sun falls on our planet on a daily basis. The warmth of the sun creates conditions on earth conducive to life. The weather patterns that

THE MILITARY AND THE RENEWABLES PART I. FOREWORD This article is a part of a series which examines the possibilities of implementing renewable energy technologies in support of the military force. Starting

Q. The diagram shows an experimental solar-powered bike. A battery is connected to the solar cells. The solar cells charge up the battery. There is a switch on the handlebars. When the switch is closed,

Sustainable production of biogas and bioethanol from waste Waste - Resources on the wrong way Jens Ejbye Schmidt Head of programme NRG Biomass & Bioenergy Biosystem Division Risø The Technical University

RENEWABLE ENERGY MONITORING PROTOCOL Update 2010 Methodology for the calculation and recording of the amounts of energy produced from renewable sources in the Netherlands NL Agency July 2010 Compiled by

Chapter 4 Forms of energy Introduction This chapter compromises a set of activities that focuses on the energy sources and conversion. The activities illustrate The concept and forms of energy; The different

AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 2012 SCORING GUIDELINES Question1 Read the following article from the Fremont Gazette and answer the questions that follow. (a) Identify and describe TWO water-related environmental

Sugarcane Production and the Environment Jason Clay, WWF-US Better Sugar Meeting, June 21 WWF and Agricultural Commodities The goal reduce measurably the most significant social and environment impacts

Soil & More International B.V 100% Organic Egypt Study Executive Summary March 2012 www.soilandmore.com Executive Summary This is an executive summary of the 100% organic study carried out by Soil & More

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY CANTON, NEW YORK COURSE OUTLINE ESCI 101 - INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Prepared By: Rajiv Narula, Ph.D. SCHOOL OF SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND CRIMINAL

Plan 2005 T Study Plan MASTER IN (Energy Management) (Thesis Track) A. General Rules and Conditions: 1. This plan conforms to the regulations of the general frame of the programs of graduate studies. 2.

Alternative Fuels Activity 6 Students compare the potential impact various alternative fuels may have on greenhouse gas emissions and then discuss with alternative-fuel vehicle owners what it s like to

International Journal of Soil, Sediment and Water Documenting the Cutting Edge of Environmental Stewardship Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 5 7-14-2008 Municipal Solid Waste Used as Bioethanol Sources and its